Dancing Laina! (and other August stuff)

The beginning of August, Ky had a getaway with Nana.  Which meant Alaina and I had special girl time!  We had a lot of fun shopping together, playing together and cooking together.  The girl LOVES to make cookies (and eat them).  That weekend Rob and I biked with Alaina from our house down to the Union.  It was a great bike ride and we actually were able to take mostly trails the whole way there!  We had lunch at the terrace and Alaina loved feeding the ducks.  She had a great time getting one-on-one attention. 

The following weekend we attended Heather & Nathan's wedding.  Heather was quite a breathtaking bride in her gown--and it was fun to see Nathan all gussied up.  We took the kids with us, which worked out alright (you always have to be a bit nervous that your kids might say something loudly during the ceremony.)  At the reception we discovered that Alaina was a dancing QUEEN!  Nobody could stop her.  In fact, she would get mad if you picked her up or took her away from the dance floor.  She danced with almost everyone--except Mom & Dad.  She did not want US to dance with her. 

At one point she did stop dancing so that her and Lexie could trade shoes on the dance floor.  Alaina LOVED her new pair.  In fact, Lexie wanted her shoes back and had to chase Alaina for them.  You really have to see her obsession with shoes to believe it.  (As I am typing she is clomping around in a pair of dress up heels that Aunt Liz & Uncle Adam bought her for her birthday.)

The next day we were off to Illinois for some fun with Aunt Janice, Linda, Sue and Uncle Tom.  We had a fabulous brunch with the relatives.  (There were pancakes!  What more could the kids ask for?!)  After we stuffed ourselves with goodness (and Uncle Tom's bloody mary's) we went on a nice boat ride on the lake.  I am pretty sure this was Alaina's first boat ride, and Ky's second (his first was also with Uncle Tom at 2 months old.)  The kids loved it.  They got to try out the captains seat and became obsessed with honking the boat's horn. 

At one point we stopped for Aunt Linda to fish.  Unfortunately, for her the fish must have been swimming on the other side of the lake because she did not even get a nibble. 

After the boat ride, we let the kids play in the beach area for a little bit.  The water was full of weeds, but Aunt Janice and Uncle Tom braved it for the kids.  They had a lot of fun playing on the playground too.  It was a wonderful visit that Ky still talks about.

LOTS of pictures of my garden's bounty.  Those pictures are all from ONE picking!  Isn't that crazy!  It always seems to happen in August --I suddenly get TONS of produce.  I was so blessed this year with peppers.  I usually only get a few peppers every year, but this year I had 25 peppers in that ONE picking!  OUTRAGEOUS!  I am so blessed!  Some of the veggies went to friends and neighbors, otherwise the tomatoes were canned and everything else was frozen.  We will be eating well this winter!  Thank you God for the bounty you provide us with!

Oh--I almost forgot.  I bought broccoli plants on a whim this year.  Broccoli has NEVER worked for me before, but this year my plants have been WONDERFUL!  I have frozen so much broccoli!  And at the end of September I am still cutting 1 - 2 cups a day!  Yeah Broccoli!  I think I will buy more starts next year!

The following Monday, I took the kids to Olbrich to enjoy the butterflies.  They LOVED it!  They also love the fact that I let them run free and just followed them.  It's like a giant exploration for them.  The butterflies were beautiful as usual--but I think the weather was actually a bit too hot for us to enjoy the outdoor gardens as much as I would have liked.  It has been a VERY hot summer this year (probably why I got so many peppers--no complaints!)   

And of course the last picture, I am just proud of....The whole key to this shopping trip was the razor--which I only paid $3 out of pocket for, yet made $13 off of.  There are just so many neat tricks to saving money and shopping.   If you haven't checked out my new blog www.simplegreensavings.blogspot.com you should take a look.  I am trying to pass on my wealth of information to others on how to save money. 

So that is the beginning of August for us.  Next blog will be our vacation to Indy and Kentucky.  Stay tuned!